Should the minimum age to buy tobacco be 21?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a press release in July announcing a recently published study that found 3 out of 4 adults support the concept of raising the minimum legal age for purchase of tobacco products to 21. The CDC’s study follows publication of a report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) earlier this year that estimated the number of Americans who smoke would be reduced by 12 percent if the minimum age is raised. Here’s why …

Just 10 percent of adult daily smokers had their first cigarette AFTER turning 19 (See the Surgeon General’s 2012 report, “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults,” for more details). What this means is, if a young person gets to the age of 19 without having a cigarette, chances are very good that person will never become a daily smoker. Odds are even better if they get to the age of 26 without a cigarette. Just one percent of smokers had their first cigarette after that.

According to the IOM report, one reason we are more likely to have a cigarette when we are younger is because our brains are not fully developed until about the age of 25. Until then, we don’t necessarily have the biological and associated emotional maturity needed to consistently make rational decisions, control impulses or ignore the strong desire to be accepted by peers. Further, our immature brains are more susceptible to nicotine’s addictive properties. This makes it easier for a young person to become a daily smoker than it does for an adult to do so.

To learn more about how raising the minimum legal age for purchase of tobacco to 21 will reduce our national smoking rates and save lives, Google “Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products.”